Marcos orders PCG: Don’t be provoked by China’s aggression in WPS

President Marcos has instructed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) not to be provoked by China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a Coast Guard official said.

Commodore Jay Tarriela brushed off public criticisms of the Coast Guard’s response to China’s recent provocative action in the WPS, saying they have a chain of command to follow.

He stated that they are following the President’s guidance that they should not be provoked by China’s actions at sea, and that they should not be the reason for any “escalation” of the situation in the WPS.

“We have a chain of command. We respect the guidance of our President. The guidance of the President is that we should not be provoked, we should not be the reason of intensifying the escalation for China to justify to once again bring the next level of aggression kung anuman ang plano nilang gawin (or whatever they plan to do),” Tarriella said in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, May 4.

“But we cannot do otherwise because we have to comply and we know for a fact – we trust our Commander-in-Chief, the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea, of course the National Security Adviser – but we have to maintain professionalism in dealing with this kind of bullying (by) the Chinese Coast Guard,” he explained.

He, said, however, that the Coast Guard personnel share the level of emotion the public is experiencing.

The PCG official said it’s unfair to describe the Coast Guard personnel as cowards, noting “we are just doing our patriotic duty.”

China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels blasted water cannons against PCG’s BRP Bagacay and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ BRP Datu Bankaw last April 30, causing over P2 million in damages.

— Betheena Unite